Tiebar and slide plate for railroad tracks



March 18 1924.

J. W. SCHMIDT TIEBAR ANDV SLIDE IPLATE FIOR RAILROAD yTRACKS Filed Nov. 8., 1925 ej.- W 5100/77/07 Patented ar. i8, i924.

JOHN W. SCHMIDT, F MILLSTONE, KENTUCKY.

TIEBAR .AND SLIDE PLATE FOR RAILROAD TRACKS.

Application filed November 8, 192,3. Serial No. 673,524.

To 1/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. SCHMIDT, citizen of the United States, residing at Millstone, in the county of Letelier and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Tiebars and Slide Plates for Railroad Tracks, of which the 'following is a specification.

The maintenance of the gauge on the main rails in a railroad track, while important throughout the saine is particularly so at the switch, and at thesepoints it is especially difficult to maintain the gage by reason of the abnormal strain there exerted by a passing train. At the switches it is customary to provide slide plates for the switch rails near their points. The slide plates afford anti-friction or slide bearings for the point rails and extend under the bases of the main rails which rest on them below the planes of the switch rails and are commonly held, to tend to prevent them from lateral displacement under the strain, by braces applied to their outer sides and by the spikes securing the slide plates near their outer ends to the ties.

The construction of slide plates referred to as being commonly employed by reason of its operating` to hold the main rails separately or independently against lateral displacement, only tends to maintain the gage in the sense of preventing such separate lateral displacementl of the respective main rails; but it does not tend to do so in the real sense of maintaining their relative positions.

rlhe object of my improvement is to provide improved means in lieu of the common slide plates of which a separate one is used for each main rail, which shall prevent spreading of the main rail by precluding the lateral displacement of onel without entailing that of the other in the same direction, thereby insuring the desired maintenance of the gauge notwithstanding such lateral displacement, the occurrence of which, with the only the separate bracing means referred to, obviously impairs the gage.

To accomplish this object, I connect the slide plates, thereby adapt-ing them to perform the additional function of a tie bar for the main rails.

l furthermore adapt the connected slide plate device to better serve my purpose by details in the construction of my improvement and combination of parts, all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is.` a fragmentary plan view, showing my improved device installed upon a switch.

Figure 2 isa substantially central sectional view taken longitudinally of my device, and transversely of the rails.y

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view', showing a Amodified form of means for attaching the bearings for the rock shaft of the point throwing means, and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view,

taken substantially upon the line 4- of Figure 3. f

The main rails of the railroad vtrack are indicated at 5 and 5', while 6 and 6 are the switch rails. n

My improved tie bar and slide plate device involves a continuous bar 7 having its portiony between the main rails upwardly offset as at 8 to afford the slide surfaces for the switch rails, and whereby the portions of the bar at the ends of this ofi'set'portion are positioned below the latter to form depressed seats S and for confining the main rails against inward relative lateral movement. Clamp plates 9 and 10 are then secured to the bar 7 at the outer sides of the main rails and bolted to the webs of the latter as at ll to confine the main rails against outward relative lateral movement or separation and to prevent creeping of the bar 7 longitudinally of the rails. The clamp plates are formed to contact the outer faces of the rail flanges and webs as shown clearly in Figure 2. The clamp plate 9 is attached to the bar 7 by means of a plurality of bolts l2 which extend through the tail piece of said clamp plate 9 and through the bar `7, while the clamp plate l0 is preferably attached by means of a single bolt 13 which extends through the tail piece of said clamp plate 10 and through the bar 7 for permitting the clamp plate lO to assume a position in angular relation to the longitudinal axis of the bar 7 as shown in Figure l, at the bend in the main rail 5.

It. will be remembered that in the ordinary construction of slide plates, the portion thereof on which the switch rail moves is in the form of a plate welded on or otherwise secured to the bar on which the main rail rests to raise the slide surface for the switch rail to the desired elevation. My improved construction, aifording the desired relative ele- .vation of the switch rail and main rail seat,

is the more readily and cheaply produced and operates the more effectively in conlining the main rails at their bases.

As will be readily seen, if with my improvement, the strain exerted by a passing train be sufficient to displace laterally one main rail, the other, owing to the connection, must follow it, thereby maintaining the gage; but with my improvement, in operative position, the resistance to such displacement is obviously increased quite materially by the connecting function that the bar 7 exerts on the main rails.

The bar 7 is extended laterally beyond one rail further than the other, and upon this extension is secured a bearing plate 14 which cooperates with the bar to provide a bearing'in which is journalled the rock shaft 15 of the rail point throwing means. This throwing means consists of the usual weighted lever 16 rigid with one end of the shaft 15, a connecting rod 17 pivoted to a crank 18 upon the other end of said shaft 15 and pivoted to the tie or connecting bar 19 which is secured to the switch rails 6 and 6 for causing them to swing laterally in unison.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2, the bearing plate 14 is secured to the extension of the bar 7 by bolting as at 2O through the bearing plate and the bar 7, a plurality of series of openings being provided as at 21 through the bar 7 for permitting the bearing plate 14 to be secured thereto at varying distances from the adjacent rail as required according to different lengths of operating rods 17 employed in switch throwing mechanisms.

In Figures 3 and 4 I have illustrated another manner in which the bearing plates may be secured to the tie bar 7 so as to be adjusted longitudinally oif the latter tovarions positions or distances from the adjacent main rail 5. In these views, the bea-ring plate 14 is held in place, by means of clamping plates 22, that are arranged in pairs and the pairs oi"- which are bolted together as at 23, by means of bolts which extend thru the ends of the clamping plates 22 and pass across the side edges of the bearing plate 14 and tie bars 7 one pair of said clamping plates 22 being provided at each end ot the bearing plate 14. This provides means whereby the bearing plate may be rigidly secured in vplace at any desired position on the extension of the bar 7 and wit-heut requiring drilling of holes through the bearing plate or the extension of the tie bar 7.

From the above description, it is believed that the construction and operation, as well as the advantages of the present invention will be readily understood anc appreciated by those skilled in the art.

What l claim as new is:

1. A combined tie bar and slide plate device comprising a. bar to extend across and beneath the main rails oi' a railroad track and having its portion between said main rails upwardly offset to form a slide surface Jor switch rails and to provide cepressed seats at the ends of said oiiset portion tor confining the main rails against inward relative lateral movement, clamp plates secured to the bar at the outer sides of the main rails and to the webs ot the main rails, said bar having an extension at one side of the track, a bearing secured upon said extension, and switch point throwing mechanism including a roch shaft journalled upon said extension beneath said bearing plate.

2. A combined tie bar and slide plate device comprising a bar to extend across and beneath the main rails of a railroad track and having its portion between said main rails upwardly offset to 'form a slide surface for switch rails and to provide depressed seats at the ends ot said odset portion for confining the main rails against inward relative lateral movement, clamp plates secured to the bar at the outer sides of the main rails and to the webs oi the main rails, said bar having an extension at one side of the track, a bearing` secured upon said extension, a switch point tlnowh ing mechanism including a rock shaft our nalled upon said extension beneath said bearing plate, and means to facilitate adjustment of the bearing plate to various distances from the adjacent main rail, and in a direction longitudinally ot said bar.

In testimony whereof l affix my signature.

JOHN W. SCHMIDT, 

